Mrs. Sawyer, the elderly wyer representing Runebelle’s mother rose from her seat. She adjusted her gsses and cleared her throat before addressing the judge.

  “Your Honor, I must request permission to address the final statement made by Mrs. Pearl. What we have just heard is nothing short of a baseless spiracy theory, wouldn’t you agree?”

  The judge sidered Mrs. Sawyer’s request carefully before nodding in agreement. “Very well, Mrs. Sawyer.”

  “Your Honor, esteemed members of the court, I submit to you evidehat the cims made by Mrs. Pearl are nothing but baseless jecture. Here,” Mrs. Sawyer said while pointing to a dot, “is a legal dot supposedly signed by Mrs. Lorraine; however, if you examihe dates, they simply do not add up.”

  She then turned her attention to the mysterious bck card with the white ‘S’ that Mrs. Pearl had presented. “As for this card,” she tinued while gesturing towards the card, “there is absolutely no crete evideo link it to the matters at hand. This card, which Mrs. Pearl cims to have found in Mrs. Lorraine’s possession, has no proven e to this custody battle. It is merely a distraeant to cloud the court’s judgment with baseless specution.”

  Mrs. Pearl, though visibly frustrated, knew she had no crete evideo ter Mrs. Sawyer’s cims. She ched her fists but remained silent, realizing that her earlier theory cked the necessary substantiation.

  The judge, too, observed the presented evidence carefully, p the validity of Mrs. Sawyer’s argument.

  Mrs. Sawyer, seizing the moment, decred, “Your Honor, the dot is a fery, created by Mrs. Lorraine and her legal representative, Mrs. Pearl, in an attempt to deceive this court and the card has no bases on this case. Mrs. Pearl has just been wasting your time.”

  Mrs. Pearl smmed her hand on the defense’s desk, “Your Honor, this is preposterous! We have never fed any dots. The evidence we had was tampered with, but we didn’t do it!”

  Mrs. Sawyer, with a sly smile replied, “Oh…’really’? Then, Mrs. Pearl, who’ else’ had access to this evideher than you and Mrs. Lorraihis seems like an attempt to manipute the court’s proceedings.”

  Mrs. Pearl, taken aback, gained a serious fad spoke with fidence, “I do not know, but I assure you of ohing, Your Honor. We have acted with the utmost iy.”

  The judge looked at Mrs.Pearl with a gre. “Mrs. Pearl, on the evidence Mrs. Sawyer provided, do you have anything to refute her cims?”

  Mrs. Pearl took a deep breath. “Your Honor, while we do not have physical evideo ter these accusations, I believe that the sudden appearance of these discrepancies suggests foul py. We need more time to iigate the true ins of these dots.”

  Mrs. Sawyer ughed, a sharp and mog sound that echoed through the tense courtroom. Mrs. Pearl turowards her, gring. “What’s so funny?”

  Mrs. Sawyer shook her head with a desding smile and her hands behind her back. “Oh, Mrs. Pearl, you’ve made a rookie attorney’s mistake. You don’t seem to know which judge you’re pleading with. Judge Harmon is known for his unwavering adhereo procedure and evidence. Asking for more time without presenting crete evideo him is a gamble that will never pay off in his courtroom.”

  Mrs. Pearl’s face flushed, her frustration with anger she held bad embarrassment at the facts. “We have acted with the utmost iy,” she repeated, though g the earlier vi.

  Judge Harmon was unimpressed. He leaned forward slightly. “Mrs. Sawyer has a point, Mrs. Pearl. This court operates on facts and verified evidence. Baseless cims and spiracy theories have no pce here.”

  Mrs. Sawyer tinued with a raised hand. “In the absence of solid evidence, all you have left are accusations, and with these allegations of fery, you might want to be careful. You’d be better off hoping you don’t get disbarred.”

  Mrs. Pearl ched her fists. “This is unfair! There’s clearly something moing ohan you think. We ime to uhe truth.”

  Judge Harmon shook his head. “This court has no patience for unsubstantiated cims. If you have nothing further to present, we will proceed based on the evidence currently on record.”

  Murmurs went through the crowd and the jury. The judge, with a sigh of frustration, banged his gavel to restore order in the courtroom.

  “Based on the evidence presented and the serious allegations of dot fery, it is with a heavy heart that I must make a ruling...”

  Before the judge could plete his sentence, Mrs. Pearl desperately shouted, “Your Honor, please! If you could just grant me a little more time to iigate this matter further, I believe I —”

  The judge, however, interrupted her plea “I have heard enough! This case has already taken up a signifit amount of court time, and I believe we have reached a clusion. I hereby rule in favor of the prosecution.”

  The room fell silent.

  In the courtroom lobby, as the case came to a close, Mrs. Lorraine, apanied by Mrs. Pearl, approached Runebelle. Mrs. Lorraine wore a somber look.“Runebelle, I’m so sorry that things turned out this way. I never wanted you to gh this.”

  Runebelle, her eyes filled with sadness, nodded in aowledgment. She then mustered the ce to ask, “ I at least see Mie st time? I want to say goodbye.”

  Mrs. Lorraiated for a moment, her gaze shifting to Mrs. Pearl, eared equally curious about Runebelle’s request. Finally, Mrs. Lorraine replied, “I’m afraid it’s probably best if you don’t see her right now, Runebelle. Mica is going through... something, and it’s a difficult time for her.”

  Mrs. Pearl turo Runebelle and said, “You know, Runebelle, this case has left me feeling quite puzzled. I’ve lost cases before, but this o... different. Mrs. Sawyers allowed your Mother to take full trol up until I finished my final statement, and I found myself with little to no evideo ter their cims.”

  She tinued, “I want you to know that this case isn’t over. I’ll keep digging for answers. There’s got to be more to this case thahe eye.”

  Runebelle looked up at Mrs. Pearl, curiosity and fusion evident in her eyes. “Why do you want to dig further into this? You’re not getting paid to do it.”

  Mrs. Pearl met Runebelle’s gaze. “Runebelle, sometimes it’s not about the money. It’s about justice. Your mother’s sudden reappearahe fed dots, and this bck card. There’s too much that’s unsolved here for me to just say ‘Case closed’ due to the judge’s hasty ruling.”

  Runebelle’s eyes widened as she listened. “But what if you ’t find anything? What if it’s all just a dead end?”

  Mrs. Pearl pced a hand on Runebelle’s shoulder. “Then at least we’ll know I tried. I don’t believe it’s a dead end though. I’ve been doing this for a long time, and my instincts tell me we’re onto something, just…try to hang in there for me. You’ll see those two make up before you know it.”

  Runebelle nodded.

  Runebelle’s mother, Ruormed out of the courtroom furiously. Her eyes locked onto Runebelle who was standing near Mrs. Loraine.

  “You!” Rune hissed, pointing an accusatory fi Mrs. Loraine. “You’re nothing but a fug predator! Stay away from my daughter!”

  Mrs. Loraine maintained her posure in the face of Rune’s accusations. She chose not to engage in the frontation; however, Mrs. Pearl stepped forward.

  “Rune,” Mrs. Pearl began, “I uand that emotions are running high, but you o stay calm. I’ve heard reports of you being in pces you shouldn’t have been.”

  Rune responded with defiance, “I haven’t done anything wrong, and you have no proof of that!”

  Mrs. Pearl tinued her inquiry, “Rune, you tell me what you’ve been doing during the time you were away from Runebelle and under Mrs. Loraine’s custody? It might help us better uand the situation.”

  Ruated for a moment before responding, “I... I’ve been trying to make things right. I wao protect Runebelle, but everything just fell apart.”

  Rune pointed acgly at Mrs. Loraine, “It was all you though. I know it’s you. It’s YOU! It’s all your fault, Loraine! You ruined everything with what you did you bitch!”

  Without waiting for a response, Rune grabbed Runebelle and stormed out of the courtroom, leaving behind a bewildered Mrs. Pearl.

  Mrs. Pearl watched them go. She muttered to herself, “Something ain’t right here…”

  Rune and Runebelle disappeared from view, but there were tears in Rune’s eyes.

  ‘This case is still wide open for me, and I’m gonna find that diamond iv’e been looking for,’ Mrs Pearl thought.

  Runebelle and Ruood oy streets outside the courthouse. Runebelle’s mother, Ruiced her daughter’s avoidance of eye tact. Her heart ached at the thought of their strained retionship.

  She gently reached out to touch Runebelle, “Runebelle, please look at me. I know things have been difficult, and I’m sorry for the pain you’ve endured.”

  Runebelle finally met her maze, her eyes refleg onfusion and sadness. She listened ily as Rune tio speak.

  Rune sighed deeply, “I wish I had good news for you, Runebelle. I truly do. But I need you to uand something. Mrs. Loraine, she’s not who you think she is.”

  Rune squeezed her daughter’s shoulder tightly. She became increasingly erratic as she said, “Don’t worry, honey. I’ll protect you. I’ll protect you, no matter what... no matter what...”

  Runebelle felt somewhat uneasy about her mother’s behavior, but she nodded her head in response.

  Runebelle settled bato her home with her mother, but she noticed something. The once g and loving woman had now shifted into an overdrive of care and . Runebelle found herself stantly atteo, with her mother h nearby, ensuring her every need was met.

  One day, Runebelle ehe house with her school bag slung over one shoulder. It had been aough day at school. Her mother, Rune, who had been waiting eagerly by the door, immediately noticed her daughter having a downcast demeanor.

  “Runebelle, how did school go today?” Rune inquired with a gentle smile, though lurked in her eyes.

  Runebelle sighed, setting her bag down, “As usual, Mom... it was sad.”

  Rune enveloped her daughter in a warm and tight embrace, holding her close. “Don’t worry, don’t worry! I’ll do everything I to make you feel happy. Today, we’re going to have a wonderful time together!”

  True to her words, Rune had already prepared dinner early, and she had pns to spend the evening pying games and sharing ughs with Runebelle, doing her best to chase away the shadows of sadhat seemed to linger over her daughter’s life.

  Runebelle settled into her bed that night. Rune had ed her arms around her daughter, holding her as they drifted off into deep sleep.

  Runebelle went about her m routine, preparing herself for another day of school. As she gathered her things and headed out the door, her mother, Rune, followed closely behind. She struck up a versation with Runebelle, engaging in small talk to fill the silehat had growween them.

  “Did you sleep well, sweetheart?” Rune asked, her tole and g.

  Runebelle responded with a soft nod. “Yeah, I slept fine, Mom.”

  Rune tirying te the gap that had developed between them, “I made your favorite breakfast this m. How was it?”

  Runebelle gnced back at Rune, managing a small smile. “The breakfast was great, Mom. Thanks for making it.”

  Rune csped her hands together with a smile.” I’m gd you enjoyed breakfast, sweetie, and about school, I know it be tough, but don’t you worry. I’ve e up with a whole list of fun games y together after school! It’ll be fun, just like old times.”

  As Runebelle prepared to leave for school, she turo her mother, Rune. “Mom, I do like what you’ve been doing for me tely, but I um… I want to help you, too, you know? We make things better together.”

  Rune looked at Runebelle with fusion and frustration. Her face torted with a crazed ahat Runebelle hadn’t seen before. She responded with iy, “NO! IT…It has to be perfect... I… I ’t have anything g! I o protect you, I o make everything perfect, I ’t fail. I ’t fail! We will have perfe…or we will have nothing!”